Run by former and current pros, The Cyclists’ Alliance is a foundation, funded purely by donations and subscriptions, that provides holistic support to professional female cyclists during and after their careers. The Cyclists’ Alliance works hard to secure fairer pay for female athletes, resolve disputes with teams, provide emotional and economic support, and elevate the appeal of women’s cycling.https://cyclistsalliance.orgOpens a new window

This Zwift social ride is for anyone who wants to join The Cyclists’ Alliance movement for change and chat directly with the women from the professional peloton!

This week's special guest is Emma Pooley

Emma Pooley was a professional cyclist for 9 years, winning the time trial World Championships in 2010 as well as 5 further cycling medals at Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games for Great Britain. She was known as a climber and solo breakaway specialist and earned a reputation as an outspoken campaigner for more gender equality in road cycling.

Emma got into cycling through triathlon and went back to multi-sport racing after retiring from cycling - competing in long distance triathlon, duathlon, cycling, and running events. She won the long distance duathlon world championship for 4 times, as well as the famous Alpe d'Huez triathlon.

After her retirement from professional sport in 2018, Emma spent a year as a presenter at the YouTube channel GCN. In 2019 she returned to living and working in Switzerland, where she has been resident since moving to Zürich in 2005 for her PhD in engineering. Her day job is as project leader for #fastandfemaleSUI : a project by Swiss Cycling to help women discover cycling, supporting them to take on new challenges, push their limits and develop to be the best talent they can be.

Emma continues to race - purely for fun - in mountain running and ultracyling, and is writing an autobiographical recipe book to share her passion for eating real, tasty food in sport. She recently set a new Everesting world record, although she says it won't be long before someone goes faster!

Ride Leader: Lexi Brown

Lexi Brown is a British rider who currently races for Cycle Capital Team Noord Holland. Based in Amsterdam, Lexi works full-time for adidas whilst also volunteering for The Cyclists’ Alliance supporting on administration and communications projects. Lexi’s last race in 2020 was the Atlas Mountain race, her first foray into ultra-endurance racing which was an unforgettable experience. Despite races being cancelled/postponed this year Lexi has been racing on Zwift for her eSports team; Wahoo Le Col.